


Cities (Alfield and Zadash)

by MercurialComet



Series: That one universe where Beau got a babysitter worse than her [5]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Crimes & Criminals, Gen, Genderqueer Character, Genderqueer Molly, Slice of Life, Speakeasies, This is going to be a clusterfuck and I'm sorry, Universe Alteration, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-31 19:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13981371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurialComet/pseuds/MercurialComet
Summary: (Episodes 8,9, and probably 10)After fighting in the mines, the party gets rewards and heads to Zadash.Aka, the author is happy because they finally get to write social interactions and thought processes and don't have to worry about fighting for the time being.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is about the time I remembered that Argus is a mostly reformed criminal, so he's gonna stumble off the bandwagon a bit. Also, after reading a few things on pronouns and Molly, I decided to switch over into writing him as genderqueer/genderfluid because that makes a bit more sense to me.

Argus knew that one of the key social rules for celebrations held in your honor for saving a town is not to pickpocket the patrons of said celebrations, but hey, he couldn’t help himself. Seeing all the coins pass in front of him was a catalyst for his old habits, faking the average drunk stumbles and slurred tongues while he watered down his drinks to stay functional enough to work his way through the crowd and hit unsuspecting marks, rich enough and dumb enough to flaunt their riches with little care, all of it second nature to him as silver and gold pieces found their way out of pockets and in his hands, scales covered up by pigments found in his disguise kit a long time before they got back into the small small city.

 

After he goes shopping, his last mark giving him a few pieces of silver, he makes his way to the table where the rest of the party is at, sitting down and counting his earnings for the night as they pass around items gathered from the mine. As he does so, he feels a compelling force pull up the edges of his mouth, and looking at Jester as she points a wand at him, forces down the smile. He turns away from her, smirking, and overhears Caleb talking to Beau.

 

“Would you like to trade to trade your goggles for them?” The monk clasped her goggles immediately, looking affronted at the mere idea.

 

“No.”

 

“Wait, what do the goggles do?” Argus was confused.  _ Why did she think that this trade was unfair? _

 

“Night vision.” After the wizard answered, the two monks locked eyes and Beau immediately stashed them in her bag, sticking her tongue out at the man.

 

* * *

“The Mighty Nein.”

 

“Over my dead body, Widogast.” Argus didn’t want a paper trail to begin with, but this was one of the dumbest things he’s heard.

 

“How do you spell it?”

 

“In common, it’s spelled M-I-G-H-T-Y-”

 

“You’re really gonna spell everything out?”

 

“Ja. N-E-I-N.” There was a long pause as the group sat there before Argus spoke up again.

 

“That’s so stupid it’s perfect.”

* * *

 

Nott drives the cart, a shout falling from her lips as they leave Alfield, getting back on the Amber Road. Argus sat next to Molly and Caleb, the former shuffling cards and the latter flipping through the pages of his book. Argus waves to a few Crowns Guard, waiting until they were out of sight before he wiped the pigment he had applied to his scales off, silver light poking through.

 

At sunset, he notices that Beau has her new goggles on, and is looking around the path, laughing as she can point out all the details in the dim light. The tieflings found a small fireplace, Caleb setting a fire as everyone goes to bed, the wizard taking the first watch.

 

Everyone wakes up in the morning, the second day having Argus, Fjord, and Jester keeping an eye out on the road, Molly hiding valuables around the cart in ways that leave the mostly reformed criminal confused.

 

“Good to see you _gentlemen_!” Jester and Beau suddenly shout at a cart, drawing attention from the men riding it.  _ Why are they patronizing the other people? _

 

* * *

Molly finds another campfire pit for a camp. Setting up the camp as Caleb runs silver thread all around the camp, Molly and Argus taking the first watch, the two smiling that smile of, “I know that you know that I know that one of us is lying and we know who that person is.” and both of them miss the cracking of a twig, only reacting at Caleb shouting for everyone to get up, bandits appearing out of nowhere, hoods covering heads and eyes raking over the party. All of them have weapons at the ready.

 

Molly and Argus are suddenly silent, as the leader and another man point crossbow bolts at the back of their skulls, their scimitars and his crowbar out of reach as the two walk towards the cart before they’re stopped and told to wake everyone else up and hand over their valuables. Argus notices Caleb whispering towards the leader, acting sickly.  _ What is he doing? _

 

“We are just trying to get medical help.” The bandits suddenly leave from their sides, running from the group and making their way to the carts before they stumble back.

 

The leader turns to his friends. “Let’s jus-” he pauses, turning to look at Caleb. “Sneaky motherfucker.” Those words trigger everyone in the vicinity to act, Molly growling in a guttural tone as Argus prepares to catch any bolt that flies towards the two, Beau doing the same for a Caleb slinging fire towards his magical target, three beams of sun traveling past bolts fired at the wizard. Beau catches one of them and flips it back, catching the bandit who fired it in his arm.

 

The leader gets launched into the air by a lollipop before he’s incinerated, another has blood leaking from his eyes, a third collapses from magical blasts, and Caleb falls backwards, pierced with the other three bolts striking him. Molly leaps out of the cart holding the glaive and lighting the ends of it on fire as Jester makes her way to Caleb and casts a healing spell.

 

What follows, in Argus’ professional opinion, is the craziest thing that ever happens. Molly speaks, talking in that guttural tone and one of the men give a nod and starts removing his armor, the other bandits following suit, confused, but still following along anyway.

 

Caleb’s looking through the leader’s ashes, Molly talking to the bandits as Argus and Beau glance over their shoulder, intimidating the group.

 

“Would you agree that the previous leader of the group led you astray?”

 

The new leader of the group looks as confused as Argus felt. “Yes?”

 

Molly sighs. “Here’s the deal. Put your clothes on-” they notice one of the bandits reaching for his crossbow and point the glaive at him. “-leaving your weapons on the ground.” As they do so, all three of them hear another bandit mutter about how the brand new leader has already fucked up and the tiefling simply transfers the blade to that man’s chest. 

 

“Do not criticize new management until it has had time to take effect.” They warn softly, a smile dancing in their eyes.

 

The man’s eyes are crossed to keep the glaive in his vision. “Right.”

 

“Right!” They saw that the group was done. “Now, you’re all going to leave tonight, and do better with yourselves. Just remember, we can identify the bodies without the head.” Molly hands them each one gold and warns them to stop being bandits as the group sends them off, all of them confused and scared. Argus turns to the group.

 

“That was one of the more interesting things that happened to us.” He says, right before Caleb screams out after pulling out a crossbow bolt as Nott returns with four horses.

 

* * *

Argus shudders when it starts to rain, Molly noticing and using their coat to cover the two of them. He rolls over to face them, eyes making contact.

 

“What-” Argus stops himself for a second, trying to pick his words carefully. “What leads you to doubt my story?”

 

Molly looks at him, debating on their options in their head before they reached out into the rain and pulled out a scimitar, giving themselves a tiny cut. The sword glowed a bright white.

 

“My swords usually don’t glow this bright.” They whisper, still looking at Argus, red eyes empty and non forthcoming. “They only do so when there’s something undead nearby.”

 

Argus’ face stays passive, voice even. “Maybe there’s a ghost haunting you.” He says, the probable empty potential staying in the air. “Can’t rule out that possibility.”

 

“I can’t.” Molly agrees, putting the sword back and wrapping it up again. “But I also can’t rule out the possibility of someone in the party being undead, and those swords never glowed when we were alone until you showed up.”

 

“Coincidence.” Argus attempts to wave it off, even though he doesn’t believe in coincidences.

 

Molly knows this, or they at least have a good grasp on what Argus thinks about the premise. “And the authorities cross the street when you rob the store in front of them.”

 

“That’s not what I said word for word.”

 

“Doesn’t matter. I trust you.” After a long pause as Argus realizes he doesn’t know how to answer, Molly decides to end the conversation, giving the monk a peck on the forehead and rolling over before going to bed.

 

Argus spent the next half hour lying awake, possibilities and scenarios flying through his head and leaving him in a fitful sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We make our way, and enter into, Zadash.

“Does anyone have any way to darken this pigment?” Argus asks as the group is getting closer to Zadash, riding in the cart. 

 

“Hold on.” Molly pulls his horse closer to the trees, scimitar flashing as he cuts a branch and give it to the monk.

 

“Thanks.” He replies evenly, taking the crowbar and flaking off the bark, grinding it down into the powder and adding it to the lightest pigment on his disguise kit. Caleb and Molly disappear for a few minutes afterwards, Molly returning with a rusted iron helmet. Caleb takes it and starts giving a history lesson, much to Argus’ displeasure and boredom.

 

“The Dwendalian Empire kind of sucks you guys.” Jester says afterwards.

 

Argus nods. “Yeah, I can agree.”

 

“They can’t be that bad,” Fjord argues. “Bryce was nice.”

 

“The farther you are from the capitol, the more tolerable the people are.” Beau notes.

 

“They do have the best of the best.” Caleb says wistfully.

 

Argus smirks. “And people who need a peg or two removed.”

 

* * *

Argus slips through the door as Fjord, Molly, Jester, and Beau all went into the office of the elven woman who ran the tavern, the half-orc confused at his entrance, the tieflings giving him amused grins, and his fellow monk fist-bumping him as he stood next to her, both of them flexing as she started talking about jobs the party could take.

 

When everyone else finished their questions, he spoke up. “Do you know where Speak Easy is located?”

 

The woman gave him a look. “I do, why do you want to know?”

 

“I have a friend who said to meet up with them whenever I was in town.” 

 

She holds her hands up. “None of my business, it’s down the road a few blocks, take a right.” 

 

Fjord gives him a look. “How friendly is this friend of yours?” 

 

Argus shrugs. “Depends on what mood I find them in. They’re a tarocchi, it’s pretty difficult to get them in a constant mood.”

 

“How legal is this friend?” Beau whispers, casually leaning against the wall as she does so.

 

Argus smirks as he walks out. “Depends on what mood I find them in.”

 

* * *

Argus knew, realistically, that there had to be some pushback against the empire. Not everyone loved being ruled over and some people had to be the dumb ones to openly fight back.

 

He never expected to actually be in a room full of the dumb ones to openly fight back. 

 

“...We were jus’ hoping we could join ya.” Fjord was leading the three of them, Beau behind him and Argus behind her as the group stared at them bewilderedly.

 

“Just for some friendly conversation.” Beau said, the people in the room nodding at each other before asking for the three to step up.

 

“I’m curious-” One person speaks, a male half-elf. “Share with us briefly the joys the empire brought you in life. Be honest.”

 

Fjord and Beau looked at each other while Argus looked at the ground.  _ Fuck, they don’t look like crownsguard, but one of them could be a plant. _ He overhears the two talking about “support” and “wayward souls” and has the thought of kissing them both flicker through his hea as he gets his story together in time for when the man turns to him. “And you?”

 

“Nothing much. My family dumped me after this-” he wipes a few scales clean of the pigment. “Just been wandering around since then. Never really got any help, although it would be nice to have some every now and then.”

 

“Yeah,” Beau says. “Maybe we just need some motivation and trust for our lives.” The man nods after a beat of silence and smiles softly, holding out his hand.

 

“Well, we are a group called the Knights of Requietal. And we are-” he pauses awkwardly, trying to alleviate his next words. “Discussing methods of changing the current political unhappiness in the city of Zadash and beyond.”

 

_ This is actually a resistance meeting. This was not the plan. _

 

Beau rolled with it. “Yeah, okay-” She nudges her two companions. “See, we’re not the only ones. We just felt like, you know,” she turns back to the group, “something's been missing.”

 

“Tearin’ in our heart-”

 

“Spilling all the milk-”

 

“Yeah.” The three finish on the same word, and Argus has to try not to laugh at the synchronicity of it. “It’s our empire,” Beau continues, before she’s cut off by the man who basically interrogated them not a minute earlier.

 

“Very well then, I will continue with my talk-” All three nod and beckon the man to continue. As he does so, Argus looked around the room taking note of all the people.  _ Lower to upper class, not so filthy rich but definitely well off. _

 

“To our new conversationalists-” The new voice throws him off for a second as he refocuses to the dwarf currently speaking. “I am Dolan Thrime. As many of you know here, I once ran a very successful physician practice here in the intersted sprawl, one that my partner was the head physician.” He has a look of irritation on his face, a look of salt hitting an old wound, but still managing sting.

 

_ His shit got jacked, didn’t it. _

 

“Well,” Dolan continued, the attention of the room all on him. “He was unfortunately brought to an unearned level of shame, and his practice ruined, as well as our industry by the House of Sutan not but a year ago.” He sighs.

 

_ His shit got jacked roughly. Got it. _

 

As he finishes his tirade, the man who seemed to be the de-facto leader stepped up, and Argus started keeping a closer eye on the motivations of the group.

 

_ Ruined practice, police quota got in between a marriage, failed help, spoiled foods, instability, lack of education, forced military inclusion. _ It isn’t until the words “Cerberus Assembly” fall out of a halfling woman’s mouth that Argus is truly paying attention.  _ There’s no way she’s talking about that Cerberus Assembly. _ He’s unable to hear any other detail as voices get louder and louder, overlapping each other until syllables can’t even be heard, different languages being spoken as side conversations mixing with the common language of everyone else spilling their guts.

 

Dolan and another man brings it back to order, giving promises of their own political power soon before he’s suddenly asking Fjord, Beau, and Argus for their names, a slight pause before they all answer.

 

“Beau.”  _ Why did you give them your real name-  _

 

“Fjord.”  _ Why did you give them your real name?! _

 

“Arthur, Arthur Sanctum.” As he shakes the man’s hand, he can’t see any recognition, any indication that the man clocks the name for his similar one. And so the smile he gives him as the three leave is a genuine one.

 

_ Dairon can’t get mad at you for falling off the wagon if you’re also helping to correct a “broken system.” _

 

“Are we that transparent?”

 

“You two are. Your real names?! Really?!”

 

* * *

Argus slipped away, double backing through the tavern and slipping out through the front door as the rest of the party broke away to do their own things.

 

Making his way through alleys this late at night is a gamble, but he manages to make his way to the more familiar tavern with very little issue. Entering the tavern and taking a seat at the bar, he notices a few of his past coworkers, reminiscing on jobs he took earlier before he motioned the barkeep over.

 

“Hello sir, welcome to Speak Easy. What can I start you off with?”

 

Argus makes eye contact and smiles. “I’d like a Guardian Angel, rotgut style, on the rocks if you don’t mind.”

 

The barkeep’s eyes narrow. “And what name will that drink be under?”

 

“Silver.”

 

There was a long pause before they answered. “I don’t think we have that drink ready right now. May I interest you in a Dead Man’s Left?”

 

An eyebrow raises on the monk’s face. “What temperature will the drink be?”

 

“It’s decently chilled.” 

 

“I’ll take that drink at the table.” With that, the barkeep heads to their next customer and Argus makes his way over to the signalled table, sitting down, startling the half-elf sitting down at it, absentmindedly doing some excellent cardistry.

 

“Who the fuck are-” They lean in to get a closer look, cards still flying through the air in between their hands. “Argus?”

 

He waves, a smirk appearing on his face. “Hey Veas. How’ve you been?”


	3. Chapter 3

“Wow.” Veas said, putting down their glass next to a few other empty ones on the table between the two. “You’ve been busy, haven’t you?”

 

“Yep.” Argus puts down his own drink. “Have to be. You know, after-”

 

“Yeah, I get it.” they nodded. “You needed to leave, and after what went down, I wouldn’t blame you for it. However-” they pause, swirling the alcohol in their glass. “I did hear that it did give you a few benefits.”

 

“Yeah, not getting cold as easily is always a benefit.” Argus quips, leaning back casually.

 

The owner of the tavern leaned forward. “That’s not what I meant Argus, and you know it. Listen-” They glanced around, Argus leaning in to hear them better. “You didn’t hear this from me, but they’re looking for you again.”

 

“Fuck, really?” Argus glances around too, a slightly nervous look in his eyes. “ The dog and all of its leashes?”

 

“Yeah, the whole kennel. I can give you a few things to help you out, but I need you to stay under the radar while you’re here. If they knew I was helping you-”

 

“I get it. You can’t lose your tavern, I understand. Just, help me out of this mess as best you can Vey.”

 

“You got it boss.” They take a card from the deck and flick it, the queen of hearts swinging around the two, magic hiding them from any wandering eyes or malicious intent as the two of them stood up. “Let’s go back to my office and conduct a trade.”

 

-

 

Argus wakes up in bed while Molly and Fjord are talking about something, he can’t really pick it out due to sleep still controlling his mind. Leaning up and getting ready for the day, he glances over all of his things, glad to get the vial of acid out of his bag before it could break. His eyes catch the item Veas gave to him and he pulls it out, catching both of his roomates’ attention.

 

Molly looks at the item curiously, his tail flicking behind him. “What’s that?”

 

“A gift from a friend.” the monk discloses, the small amulet on the string taking up most of his attention as he ties it around an ankle, making sure his pants cover it. “This will help me keep a low profile.”

 

Fjord looks interested in that. “How? It’s obviously arcane, but what does it do?”

 

“Hides the scales.” As the dark-skinned male stands up, it’s noticeable that the scales seem to vanish from view, but don’t fully fade, light still glimmering off of his arms as if there was water on them. “Well, it covers them up at least.” He frowns slightly as he pulls on a shirt, light from the scales still flickering through, making sure his crowbar was stashed safely in his bag before he puts it under his bed. “Let’s go.”

 

“Are you alright?” Molly takes a closer look at him as the three begin to walk down the stairs. “Your eyes are different.” Fjord looks at the monk too and nods in confirmation.

 

“Are they? How different?”

 

“The brown eye is turnin’ silver.” Fjord states. “Like th’ moon.”

 

Argus nods and continues walking. “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

 

_ What did they do to me? _

 

-

 

“Attack on Alfield has ended! Terrible fiends responsible!” The party gave each other knowing grins as they continued to walk past the town crier before he continued on. “Put to the sword by a Crowns Guard in the King’s grace!”

 

“Hey, we did that.” Nott says, confused, looking at the cleric next to her. “They stole our thunder.”

 

Molly leans in, patting his coin purse. “But not our gold.” 

 

“That’s true.”

 

“Although,” Fjord interjects, “credit could help our, ya’ know, reputation.”

 

Jester’s eyes light up. “Yeah, we could be famous!”

 

_ Oh no, this is definitely not in the plan. _

 

“Do we really need to become famous to do good things?” Argus can’t believe that he’s talking about doing good for the empire with a straight face with the actual intention of doing so.

 

“Have you ever been famous?”

 

Molly jumps in again to answer. “No, I have no interest in becoming it, thank you very much.”

 

“Ditto. Don’t want that big of a profile.”

 

Fjord nods, agreeing with his roomates. “If we can build our reputation anonymously, then maybe so.”

 

Argus opens his mouth before closing it, sharing a look with Beau as she interjects. “Did you just say you want an anonymous reputation?”

 

“Maybe so.”

 

-

 

Looking at the postings of jobs in the city, Argus saw a few decent ones, helping with buildings could be an honest living. His eyes did catch on the posters that warranted gold for “myriad activities”, “anti-Crown rhetoric”, and “worshipping non-approved religions”.

 

He forced his brain to skip over those possibilities, moving on to notice Jester changing the lettering of one of the signs. He smiled, before a paper at the far corner caught his attention, reading, “Missing Person: Gold will be paid for information on the whereabouts of Arthur Sanctum, a brown-skinned male human. Last seen 6 months ago.”

 

Beau looks over his shoulder. “Hey, isn’t that the name you gave the group we met?”

 

“Yes.” Argus glances around.  _ A few guards, passerby… This is doable. _ “Stand in front of me for a quick second?”

 

“Sure.” She gives him a confused look before she takes her place, Argus quickly tearing the paper off of it’s rusted nail and stashing it in his shirt sleeve before tapping her shoulder. “Let’s catch up with the others.” He starts to walk away, but she grabs his arm.

 

“Why did you take it down?”

 

He gives a quick sigh before he leaned in and whispered in her ear. “I only use that name in select circles, so anyone who’s looking for me using that name is not to be trusted.”

 

Beau looks over at the group. “Do you want to tell them?”

 

“No.” Argus shakes his head. “This really doesn’t concern any of you. I’ll be fine keeping an eye out for anything weird.”

 

“Alright.” She looks like she’s going to tell the party anyway, and he can’t really blame her.

 

“Wow.” Veas groaned, putting down their glass next to a few other empty ones on the table between the two. “You’ve been busy, haven’t you?”

“Yep.” Argus puts down his own drink. “Have to be. You know, after-”

“Yeah, I get it.” they nodded. “You needed to leave, and after what went down, I wouldn’t blame you for it. However-” they pause, swirling the alcohol in their glass. “I did hear that it did give you a few benefits.”

“Yeah, not getting cold as easily is always a benefit.” Argus quips, leaning back casually.

The owner of the tavern leaned forward. “That’s not what I meant Argus, and you know it. Listen-” They glanced around, Argus leaning in to hear them better. “You didn’t hear this from me, but they’re looking for you again.”

“Fuck, really?” Argus glances around too, a slightly nervous look in his eyes. “ The dog and all of its leashes?”

“Yeah, the whole kennel. I can give you a few things to help you out, but I need you to stay under the radar while you’re here. If they knew I was helping you-”

“I get it. You can’t lose your tavern, I understand. Just, help me out of this mess as best you can Vey.”

“You got it boss.” They take a card from the deck and flick it, the queen of hearts swinging around the two, magic hiding them from any wandering eyes or malicious intent as the two of them stood up. “Let’s go back to my office and conduct a trade.”

* * *

Argus wakes up in bed while Molly and Fjord are talking about something, he can’t really pick it out due to sleep still controlling his mind. Leaning up and getting ready for the day, he glances over all of his things, glad to get the vial of acid out of his bag before it could break. His eyes catch the item Veas gave to him and he pulls it out, catching both of his roomates’ attention.

Molly looks at the item curiously, his tail flicking behind him. “What’s that?”

“A gift from a friend.” the monk discloses, the small amulet on the string taking up most of his attention as he ties it around an ankle, making sure his pants cover it. “This will help me keep a low profile.”

Fjord looks interested in that. “How? It’s obviously arcane, but what does it do?”

“Hides the scales.” As the dark-skinned male stands up, it’s noticeable that the scales seem to vanish from view, but don’t fully fade, light still glimmering off of his arms as if there was water on them. “Well, it covers them up at least.” He frowns slightly as he pulls on a shirt, light from the scales still flickering through, making sure his crowbar was stashed safely in his bag before he puts it under his bed. “Let’s go.”

“Are you alright?” Molly takes a closer look at him as the three begin to walk down the stairs. “Your eyes are different.” Fjord looks at the monk too and nods in confirmation.

“Are they? How different?”

“The brown eye is turnin’ silver.” Fjord states. “Like th’ moon.”

Argus nods and continues walking. “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

_ What did they do to me? _

* * *

“Attack on Alfield has ended! Terrible fiends responsible!” The party gave each other knowing grins as they continued to walk past the town crier before he continued on. “Put to the sword by a Crowns Guard in the King’s grace!”

“Hey, we did that.” Nott says, confused, looking at the cleric next to her. “They stole our thunder.”

Molly leans in, patting his coin purse. “But not our gold.” 

“That’s true.”

“Although,” Fjord interjects, “credit could help our, ya’ know, reputation.”

Jester’s eyes light up. “Yeah, we could be famous!”

_ Oh no, this is definitely not in the plan. _

“Do we really need to become famous to do good things?” Argus can’t believe that he’s talking about doing good for the empire with a straight face with the actual intention of doing so.

“Have you ever been famous?”

Molly jumps in again to answer. “No, I have no interest in becoming it, thank you very much.”

“Ditto. Don’t want that big of a profile.”

Fjord nods, agreeing with his roomates. “If we can build our reputation anonymously, then maybe so.”

Argus opens his mouth before closing it, sharing a look with Beau as she interjects. “Did you just say you want an anonymous reputation?”

“Maybe so.”

* * *

Looking at the postings of jobs in the city, Argus saw a few decent ones, helping with buildings could be an honest living. His eyes did catch on the posters that warranted gold for “myriad activities”, “anti-Crown rhetoric”, and “worshipping non-approved religions”.

He forced his brain to skip over those possibilities, moving on to notice Jester changing the lettering of one of the signs. He smiled, before a paper at the far corner caught his attention, reading, “Missing Person: Gold will be paid for information on the whereabouts of Arthur Sanctum, a brown-skinned male human. Last seen 6 months ago.”

Beau looks over his shoulder. “Hey, isn’t that the name you gave the group we met?”

“Yes.” Argus glances around.  _ A few guards, passerby… This is doable. _ “Stand in front of me for a quick second?”

“Sure.” She gives him a confused look before she takes her place, Argus quickly tearing the paper off of it’s rusted nail and stashing it in his shirt sleeve before tapping her shoulder. “Let’s catch up with the others.” He starts to walk away, but she grabs his arm.

“Why did you take it down?”

He gives a quick sigh before he leaned in and whispered in her ear. “I only use that name in select circles, so anyone who’s looking for me using that name is not to be trusted.”

Beau looks over at the group. “Do you want to tell them?”

“No.” Argus shakes his head. “This really doesn’t concern any of you. I’ll be fine keeping an eye out for anything weird.”

“Alright.” She looks like she’s going to tell the party anyway, and he can’t really blame her.

* * *

Meeting Yasha at the bathhouse was a surprise. Molly’s tattoo was also a surprise. Caleb dropping down into the water also a surprise. Let’s just say that every few minutes, Argus was surprised as he currently sat in the hot water, Nott trying to learn how to swim with the help of Beau and Yasha.

He watches as Jester washes the goblin woman’s hair before Fjord and Beau coax her into dunking her head. He was still surprised at the vitriol that flew out from Nott as she came back up, but as he was laughing, she calmed down,gently resting against the side as the serious conversation started.

“Nobody’s chasin’ after you, or givin’ you any grief, right?” Argus can feel Beau stare through his skull as Fjord and Yasha are talking.

“No. I’m not in trouble for anything.” She gives a half-hearted smile. “If anything, I’d get in trouble for the god I follow.” 

Jester perks up. “Which is who?”

“Well,” the aarocockra sighed, “it’s the Storm Lord.”   _ Who’s that? I need to look that up later. _

“Molly, what else do ya’ do around a hot bath spa place?” Fjord is not the pinnacle of class at this moment, slightly uncomfortable by the setting now.

It’s obvious in Jester’s expression that she’s ready to mess with him. “You stand really close to people you know and make them uncomfortable.” She does that, and Fjord does look uncomfortable.

Molly smiles before he answers. “I tend to find it’s just easier to look into somebody’s eyes and figure out if they’re lying to you if they’re naked and boiling.” Argus holds back his laughter.

“Uh-huh.” Beau nodded, looking at Argus. “So if someone found a posting for information on where they are, you would know if they lie about it?”

“Yes? Although that seems really specific.”

“Oh yeah. It does seem that way.”

* * *

Argus quickly ties up his hair before they meet the herald, dreadlocks being put into a bun seconds before a dwarf comes in and talks to the group.

He’s so proud of them all for giving fake names though. “Armand.”

“That’s an interesting birthmark you have Armand. Family line?”

“Spirehilt. From the Menagerie Coast.” He writes it down and gives Molly the scroll, who hands it back.

“You’re going to want to add more names on that.” He says, smiling. “We are a group of nine.” 

* * *

When Nott bends down and tastes part of the sewer, Argus has three thoughts slick to the front of his brain like lightning.

  1. This is the third cleanest sewer he’s been in, now that he’s spent some time down here
  2. It’s honestly kind of sad that he can say that with a straight face
  3. That was not hygenic and he will be having words with Caleb about what his influence is doing to the goblin.



“This is bloody stool.” The monks nearly vomit in unison, arms keeping each other upright in thir revulsion

* * *

_ “I never thought-”  _ Argus punched a rat that tried to sneak up on the party, hearing a snap as the force of the impact twisted its head.  _ “That I would-”  _ He rushes past Fjord, jumping into another rat and kicking it, the rat hitting the wall and falling down lifeless.  _ “Have to fucking fight rats!”  _  As he roundhouse kicked a third rat to take it out of commission, a putrid gas settled over him that he breathed in, coughing harshly as his eyes watered from the stinging sensation they suddenly felt. 

He still managed to hop over another rat that tried to take a bite out of his leg, eyes still stinging badly as he moved out of Caleb’s way as the wizard sent a bolt of fire down the way. Argus’ eyes clear up as he run to the last rat in the sewer, tripping a bit due to the lack of light and reaching the rat right as a crossbow bolt from Nott sunk into its body. He’s able to avoid the spray of poison, but Beau gets caught and he helps her out of it so she can clear her lungs.

God how he hates sewers.

* * *

“Burn that shit!” Argus is actually agreeing with Jester as she comes up with her plan. “And when the spider comes we will burn that shit too!”

“I have paper if you need fuel for the fire!” Jester takes the parchment he offers and gets ready to cast a spell as the two fall behind Molly and Fjord in the tunnel. As they enter the big, cavernous room, he falls back even further to meet up with Nott to keep an eye on their flank.

Walking into the room, Argus was now next to Fjord as well, the half-orc also dropping back to keep an eye on things. All three of them felt a shudder run up their shoulders as they turned around and saw the blue-white arachnid for barely a second before it struck Fjord, pincers and fangs pulling into and leaving his body before the spider vanished to Nott’s terrified screams.

Argus immediately whips around and stands next to Fjord, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. He notices that Jester summoned a teal lollipop and flames to no effect and keeps himself on guard, eyes flickering around the scene as he sticks to Fjord’s side. Fjord sent a bolt of magic at where it was last and there’s no impact as the spider appears again, Argus dodging the bite, but Fjord taking a second blow, pulling back as he takes a deep breath, looking pale for a split second before he looks at the spider with a look of fear. Both men look around them and dodge Yasha as she runs in, a righteous fury storming in behind her as she strikes the spider in between the eyes, a crossbow bolt from Nott slipping in beneath her arm to add more damage to the attack. Argus waits for a flame from Jester before he struck, swinging wide with his crowbar, but connecting with a kick.

The group watches as it vanishes into thin air again. There was a flurry of movement as everyone ran to get into better positions, and when it reappeared, missing Jester, Argus ducked under a spray of acid and a crossbow bolt to hit the spider in two of its eyes with the prongs of his crowbar as Molly ran up next to him, growling in Infernal to kill the spider.

After the adrenaline ran out of his body, Argus followed Jester as she went to a halfling stuck on the wall by webs, watching as she placed a hand on their forehead and magic running into his head.

* * *

Argus knows this man is not saying something, but he can’t put it together. Looking at Beau, it seems like she’s figured something out. “You know-” she starts, catching Argus’ attention on the side of her eye, “I used to utilize the sewers back in the day. Real good to stay out of sight. Move stuff quickly.”

_ “Smugglers? Thieves?”  _ Argus was stuck on what criminal connection the man webbed to the wall could have.

“We- Well, it’s impo- important when you’re an ale hand.” The halfling speaks too quickly, stuttering and stumbling over his words. “You got to move the product through the sewers quickly.”

“What are you moving?”

“Ale.” 

Argus gives the man a look as Jester cuts in. “Do you have a key to the grates?”

“Not a key-” Argus turns up the intensity of his glare and the halfling caves. “I have a key. You’ll have to cut me free for it.”

“Before we do that-” Beau cuts in now, stopping the cleric from making any rash promises. “What’s your name friend?”

“Thed.” Argus immediately ducks his head down and turns away.  _ “Can’t let them know, gotta stay hidden.” _ He doesn’t turn around or speak until Thed asks in Thieves’ Cant, talking to Nott, “And your companions?”

He also responds in Thieves’ Cant, to the surprise of Nott. “They’re cool.”

* * *

Argus watches Molly pin Caleb to a wall and laughs at how awkward the fellow human looks like, trapped between the flamboyant tiefling. He isn't sure who's side to take: Caleb found the gold, but Molly does have a point.

He stops thinking about it as they all get out of the sewers and he makes a mad dash to the alleyways.

* * *

Argus was not expecting Ulog to show up. And considering that there was a missing persons report with his name on it after the Knights of Requietal meeting, he doesn’t like that Fjord and Beau get pulled aside while he gets glossed over.

He doesn’t like it so much, he sneaks off after them to eavesdrop. And he does not trust this idea one bit. Be the physical force for the Knights?  _ “Absolutely not. They’re unplanned, and not worth it. They can’t even hold secret meetings correctly.” _

As the group later walks out, Argus can’t help but wonder about what motivations the group actually has, and what he should be paying attention to. He falls asleep with those thoughts running in his mind as thunder and lightning rolls in.

  
The pale woman sighed, “it’s the Storm Lord.”   _ Who’s that? I need to look that up later. _

 

“Molly, what else do ya’ do around a hot bath spa place?” Fjord is not the pinnacle of class at this moment, slightly uncomfortable by the setting now. It's different, watching him squirm in a social environment surrounded by water.

 

It’s obvious in Jester’s expression that she’s ready to mess with him. “You stand really close to people you know and make them uncomfortable.” She does that, and Fjord does look uncomfortable.

 

Molly smiles before he answers. “I tend to find it’s just easier to look into somebody’s eyes and figure out if they’re lying to you if they’re naked and boiling.” Argus holds back his laughter.

 

“Uh-huh.” Beau nodded, looking at Argus. “So if someone found a posting for information on where they are, you would know if they lie about it?”

 

“Yes? Although that seems really specific.”

 

“Oh yeah. It does seem that way.”

 

* * *

Argus quickly ties up his hair before they meet the herald, dreadlocks being put into a bun seconds before a dwarf comes in and talks to the group.

 

He’s so proud of them all for giving fake names though. “Armand.”

 

“That’s an interesting birthmark you have Armand. Family line?”

 

“Spirehilt. From the Menagerie Coast.” He writes it down and gives Molly the scroll, who hands it back.

 

“You’re going to want to add more names on that.” He says, smiling. “We are a group of nine.” 

 

* * *

When Nott bends down and tastes part of the sewer, Argus has three thoughts slick to the front of his brain like lightning.

 

  1. This is the third cleanest sewer he’s been in, now that he’s spent some time down here
  2. It’s honestly kind of sad that he can say that with a straight face
  3. That was not hygenic and he will be having words with Caleb about what his influence is doing to the goblin.



 

“This is bloody stool.” The monks nearly vomit in unison, arms keeping each other upright in their revulsion.

 

* * *

_ “I never thought-”  _ Argus punched a rat that tried to sneak up on the party, hearing a snap as the force of the impact twisted its head.  _ “That I would-”  _ He rushes past Fjord, jumping into another rat and kicking it, the rat hitting the wall and falling down lifeless.  _ “Have to fucking fight rats!”  _  As he roundhouse kicked a third rat to take it out of commission, a putrid gas settled over him that he breathed in, coughing harshly as his eyes watered from the stinging sensation they suddenly felt. 

 

He still managed to hop over another rat that tried to take a bite out of his leg, eyes still stinging badly as he moved out of Caleb’s way as the wizard sent a bolt of fire down the way. Argus’ eyes clear up as he run to the last rat in the sewer, tripping a bit due to the lack of light and reaching the rat right as a crossbow bolt from Nott sunk into its body. He’s able to avoid the spray of poison, but Beau gets caught and he helps her out of it so she can clear her lungs.

 

God how he hates sewers.

 

* * *

“Burn that shit!” Argus is actually agreeing with Jester as she comes up with her plan. “And when the spider comes we will burn that shit too!”

 

“I have paper if you need fuel for the fire!” Jester takes the parchment he offers and gets ready to cast a spell as the two fall behind Molly and Fjord in the tunnel. As they enter the big, cavernous room, he falls back even further to meet up with Nott to keep an eye on their flank.

 

Walking into the room, Argus was now next to Fjord as well, the half-orc also dropping back to keep an eye on things. All three of them felt a shudder run up their shoulders as they turned around and saw the blue-white arachnid for barely a second before it struck Fjord, pincers and fangs pulling into and leaving his body before the spider vanished to Nott’s terrified screams.

 

Argus immediately whips around and stands next to Fjord, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. He notices that Jester summoned a teal lollipop and flames to no effect and keeps himself on guard, eyes flickering around the scene as he sticks to Fjord’s side. Fjord sent a bolt of magic at where it was last and there’s no impact as the spider appears again, Argus dodging the bite, but Fjord taking a second blow, pulling back as he takes a deep breath, looking pale for a split second before he looks at the spider with a look of fear. Both men look around them and dodge Yasha as she runs in, a righteous fury storming in behind her as she strikes the spider in between the eyes, a crossbow bolt from Nott slipping in beneath her arm to add more damage to the attack. Argus waits for a flame from Jester before he struck, swinging wide with his crowbar, but connecting with a kick.

 

The group watches as it vanishes into thin air again. There was a flurry of movement as everyone ran to get into better positions, and when it reappeared, missing Jester, Argus ducked under a spray of acid and a crossbow bolt to hit the spider in two of its eyes with the prongs of his crowbar as Molly ran up next to him, growling in Infernal to kill the spider.

 

After the adrenaline ran out of his body, Argus followed Jester as she went to a halfling stuck on the wall by webs, watching as she placed a hand on their forehead and magic running into his head.

 

* * *

Argus knows this man is not saying something, but he can’t put it together. Looking at Beau, it seems like she’s figured something out. “You know-” she starts, catching Argus’ attention on the side of her eye, “I used to utilize the sewers back in the day. Real good to stay out of sight. Move stuff quickly.”

 

_ “Smugglers? Thieves?”  _ Argus was stuck on what criminal connection the man webbed to the wall could have.

 

“We- Well, it’s impo- important when you’re an ale hand.” The halfling speaks too quickly, stuttering and stumbling over his words. “You got to move the product through the sewers quickly.”

 

“What are you moving?”

 

“Ale.” 

 

Argus gives the man a look as Jester cuts in. “Do you have a key to the grates?”

 

“Not a key-” Argus turns up the intensity of his glare and the halfling caves. “I have a key. You’ll have to cut me free for it.”

 

“Before we do that-” Beau cuts in now, stopping the cleric from making any rash promises. “What’s your name friend?”

 

“Thed.” Argus immediately ducks his head down and turns away.  _ “Can’t let them know, gotta stay hidden.” _ He doesn’t turn around or speak until Thed asks in Thieves’ Cant, talking to Nott, “And your companions?”

 

He also responds in Thieves’ Cant, to the surprise of Nott. “They’re cool.”

 

* * *

 

Argus watches Molly pin Caleb to a wall and laughs at how awkward the fellow human looks like, trapped between the flamboyant tiefling.

* * *

 

Argus was not expecting Ulog to show up. And considering that there was a missing persons report with his name on it after the Knights of Requietal meeting, he doesn’t like that Fjord and Beau get pulled aside while he gets glossed over.

 

He doesn’t like it so much, he sneaks off after them to eavesdrop. And he does not trust this idea one bit. Be the physical force for the Knights?  _ “Absolutely not. They’re unplanned, and not worth it. They can’t even hold secret meetings correctly.” _

 

As the group later walks out, Argus can’t help but wonder about what motivations the group actually has, and what he should be paying attention to. He falls asleep with those thoughts running in his mind as thunder and lightning rolls in.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Argus dreams of lightning. So much lightning around him. Coursing through his veins, singing in his skin as he swings his crowbar, arcing around his body, guiding his steps, following through with his efforts. It’s a strange dream, but it’s oddly comforting, like a part of his soul was unlocked.

 

He wakes with a spark of electricity frizzing in his hair and a quiet pop of lightning around his silver eye.

 

-

 

Argus runs in from the rain, coat over his head. As he walks around Pumat’s store, he’s laughing as Molly looks very confused by the multiple Pumat Sol’s before the tiefling falls in step with him as they peruse.

 

“So? First impressions?” He can’t help himself.

 

“It’s different.” Molly answers. “Charming.” Argus accepts the answer, finding different darts he remembers being good at using. Picking up a few, he pays one Pumat Sol while he overhears a conversation with another.

 

“I’m actually an annex of the Cerberus Assembly-” Argus notices their symbol on the wall and immediately feels nauseous, sticking even closer to Molly in fear as Nott starts asking questions about the Assembly.

 

Argus, against his wishes, finds himself silently mouthing the answers.

 

-

 

It was meant for shits and giggles, something to do while waiting for the others to come back from the meeting, but man, Molly’s cards are getting a bit personal.

 

“You come from being touched by some sort of primordial chaos magic-” Molly lists off the meaning of Argus’ first card, Jester watching in rapt attention. “Something powerful, strange, creative and bizarre.” 

 

“Woah.” Jester looks impressed as he pulls a second card, a balance off center.

 

“You’ve recently had everything turned upside down-”

 

“You could say that.” Argus agrees, looking down at the cards with a passive poker face.  _ “Don’t show anything, don’t show anything-” _

 

“And have started a new path.” The purple tiefling flips over a third card, a card with a broken bridge and a dirt road. “The path you’re taking is not the one you were expecting, but you are walking to some sort of destiny.”

 

Jester turns her head to look at the card as if there is descriptive text on it. “Does it say which one?”

 

“Just not the one he’s expecting.” Molly gives Argus a look that’s asking what is he expecting. Argus can’t give him a straight answer. Argus looks away. Molly nods in recognition. Nott looks confused. Jester’s smile fades as she studies the human.

 

“Are you sick Argus?”

 

He gives a sigh of relief when Fjord, Caleb, and Beau come back. “No, Jester. I’m fine.”

 

-

 

Argus can’t believe he’s hiding up in the rafters taking notes for Fjord and Molly right now as they interrogate Nott. But he also can’t believe the words coming out of her mouth.

 

He understands the sentiment though. He almost wishes he had someone to save him, make him disappear from radars and sightlines.

 

He can’t believe that someone would openly say this, but he understands the thought process behind it.

 

Fjord throws him on a curveball when he mentions his own dental work.

 

-

 

Nott’s too wired to pick the lock, her hands are shaking from all the action happening in the square and the hushed whispers directed her way. Argus quickly steps in and works the lock open as Jester opens up another hole in the gate. The group quickly rushes in as the guard hit by Fjord’s magical madness gets arrested.

 

-

 

Argus didn’t realize that disguises would be apart of this and follows along with Molly’s call of staying in the back, taking off his Alter Self ankle bracelet and letting his hair down, a few dreads covering his face.

 

Walking around the Tri-Spire is nerve-wracking, but familiar. Argus has done this many times, and with his skin covered, there’s no chance of his scales showing. That’s a comforting thought that gets repeated in his mind whenever he’s looking over houses and security details.

 

Against all odds, this revolution might succeed. The question now is how will that affect him.


End file.
